THE House of Representatives on Wednesday unanimously passed House Bill 22-119, which would require the governor to deliver his or her State of the Commonwealth Address no later than March.
All the 19 House members present voted yes to the bill that House Floor Leader Ralph N. Yumul introduced on the same day and, with the suspension of the pertinent House rules, was unanimously included on the bill calendar for action.
Rep. Joel Camacho was excused.
H.B. 22-119, which now goes to the Senate, establishes a “straightforward process for scheduling a SOCA in place of traditional methods that can be inconsistently applied.”
Consistent with Section 9, Article 11 of the CNMI Constitution, H.B. 22-119 states that the governor must deliver the SOCA not later than March of any calendar year. The bill would also allow the governor to present his or her SOCA in person, recorded or in writing.
A written SOCA shall be transmitted by the governor to the Senate president and the House speaker for delivery to the members.
If the SOCA will be delivered in person, H.B. 22-119 requires the governor to give the Legislature’s presiding officers a written notice of a proposed date and time of the SOCA in March, no later than 45 days before the proposed date in order for the Legislature to consider a joint resolution to set the time and place for the SOCA.
If such a resolution fails to pass both houses of the Legislature, the governor can submit a written or recorded SOCA.
Rep. Tina Sablan, who cosponsored the bill, thanked Yumul and the other co-sponsors for establishing a process and providing some clarity on how the SOCA should be conducted.
House Floor Leader Ralph N. Yumul smiles during a House session on Wednesday.
